


Hyacinth

by mikitty



Category: Pentagon (Korea Band)
Genre: 2ggu, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood, Blood Drinking, Human!Changgu, Light Angst, M/M, Vampire!Kino, Vampires, english isn't my first language pls forgive me, ssanggu
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:08:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26093887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikitty/pseuds/mikitty
Summary: Everything was silent, again, it felt like a déjàvu – like that morning – he looked up and a sudden gust of wind made the leaves of that enormous oak tree move, startling Changgu.Despite the mysterious and disturbing aura that the garden emanated, Changgu found himself drawn by that small, hidden place that probably few knew about. “Why haven’t I seen it before?” Changgu blamed the way the garden was hidden from everything.That smell, that smell was so good, like a drug, like the sweetest chocolate, or the most exquisite delicacy someone could find.
Relationships: Kang Hyunggu | Kino/Yeo Changgu | Yeo One
Kudos: 10





	Hyacinth

“Red like blood  
White like bone  
Red like solitude  
White like silence  
Red like the beastly instinct  
White like a god's heart  
Red like thawing hatred  
White like a frozen, pained cry  
Red like the night's hungry shadows  
Like a sigh piercing the moon  
it shines white and shatters red”  
― Tite Kubo

●

Clutching his backpack on his shoulders, the young boy walked down the street as the warm, morning sun lit up his face.  
A sweet, but slightly spicy fragrance roused him all of a sudden – still it was pleasant – and it almost made him smile, because that meant one thing: spring finally arrived.  
It almost seemed like the scent of the flowers guided him towards them, captivating him like a spell that forced his feet to move and find _them_.  
Changgu involuntarily held his breath as he walked, watching carefully to see where that delicate aroma came from.

“There they are.” Moving closely to them, he kneeled down and stopped to admire the flowers that surrounded him in what looked like a garden.  
“ _It must be the school’s garden_.” He thought as he noticed that it was almost near the building, however there wasn’t a soul to be seen.  
“Weird.” He murmured to himself, then he got up and examined the surrounding area. It was hidden by an enormous oak tree, reason why it didn’t stand out so much. Behind that huge tree, there was a small garden fenced with thick dark green ivy that nearly covered it completely.  
In the garden there were several types of flowers – roses, daisies, tulips, lilies, geranium, orchids – but there was one in particular – shades of blue adorned it, in a way not even the greatest poet could describe its majestic beauty, even the queen of flowers, the well-known rose couldn’t surpass it: the _hyacinth_ , Changgu’s favourite flower.  
He smiled fondly, tempted to pick one but changed quickly his mind and caressed slightly the cerulean flower, almost too afraid to hurt its beautiful petals.

However, when he heard a very much familiar sound, he stood up suddenly.  
“Oh shit- school’s starting in ten minutes, I must hurry or I’ll be late on my first day-”

His school was on top of a high hill, not too far away from the garden, therefore getting there wasn’t a problem and he found himself in front of the school gate after less than five minutes.

“ _Thank God. I really don’t want to get in trouble on the first day_.” He thought as he entered the building.

Despite starting his last year, Changgu wasn’t as excited as the others. He already knew what it was like – he had to keep his head down on books for the next three years, finding a hobby to distract himself, if possible, and survive.

“-nggu! Hey!” Someone calling his name startled him and he turned only to see a boy with a big smile on his face.  
“Goodmorning, Yanan.” He smiled back, and both of them headed towards the class.  
Luckily Yanan and Changgu were in the same class. If it weren’t for him, Changgu wouldn’t have had a precious friend to open up to, someone to have fun with. Yanan looked like one of those ogres you could hear about in the tales, huge and intimidating, but kind and quiet. It either was because of his inarguable beauty, or because people just were envious of him, or just girls who were infatuated with him – everyone ended up looking at him, everywhere.  
Changgu, being the perceptive he was, of course noticed it after a short time after they became friends.  
It was amusing, Yanan didn’t even know how much his appearance affected the others around him, yet he was still the same humble boy he met three years before.  
That was probably one of the reason that maintained their friendship firm.

“Oh! Look! Now we’re on the other side of the school, I’ve always wanted to be here.”  
Their class changed every year, so now it was facing the back of the school building.  
Changgu didn’t mind it.

“Hello everyone, now take your seats and let’s start the lesson.”

●

“I really didn’t miss any of this, it’s our first day and they already want us to study.”  
It was true. Their school was one of the most famous in Seoul, probably _the_ most famous. Whoever attended it knew it required many hours spent on difficult books, only to take tests almost every week.  
However, Changgu wasn’t neither anxious nor worried. He liked reading, studying, his curious mind needed to _know_.

“I know, nothing changed, after all. Now they’re just more demanding because it’s out last year here.”  
He replied softly with a hint of a smile.

It was lunchtime and they were on a bench in the schoolyard. A gentle breeze freshened the air while they quietly ate their lunch, students chatting could be heard along with birds that chirped from the trees.

“Changgu, what are you doing after school? Do you want to get some ice cream? I’m meeting one of my friends, he’s starting his first year here and I really want you to meet him.”

Yanan was so kind, always worrying about Changgu just like a mother would do. Changgu has always been a withdrawn boy and, despite having already spent two years in that school, and despite being a positive person, full of energy and optimism, he spent time only with Yanan and another boy who already graduated and went to the university.  
Sadly, because of his shy, introvert personality he didn’t have the opportunity to make other friends, or – more precisely – nobody seemed interesting enough to make him want to be friend with them.

“Oh, well, I wanted to go to the library, since we have to study two chapters of the book-”

“Come on! Please! I _really_ want you to come with me.”  
Changgu already knew what those soft and puppy eyes wanted, so he didn’t really make some effort to decline the proposal.  
He sighed and nodded, but smiled when he saw the sincere look of happiness on his friend’s face.

●

Classes were over, the sun that just hours before was shining brightly now was burning like fire in the orange sky, warm colors and an unusual coziness in the air making Changgu feeling all the fatigue of the day all of a sudden. Honestly, he just wanted to go home and finish his homework as soon as possible, and then just collapse on his bed.  
However, that wasn’t the case, unfortunately.

“Here they are! Yuto, we’re here!”

Two tall and very handsome boys were approaching him and Yanan, whose exhaustion suddenly seemed disappeared at the sight of his friend. Yuto had parted wavy hair, caffelatte skin, most likely a welt built body – judging by how his clothes fitted him so well – and a radiant smile. They were tall. Handsome, those three together looked like Greek statues coming out of a museum.  
Yanan hugged who he supposed was Yuto, who, on the other side, introduced him the other tall boy.

“Hi! Long time no see! I missed you, hyung. How have you been? Oh, by the way, this is my friend, Wooseok. We’re in the same class.”

The first thing Changgu noticed about Wooseok was that the boy had really broad shoulders and he seemed a nice person.  
They turned all at once and Yanan didn’t waste time to introduce them to Changgu.

“This is Changgu, guys. We’ve been in the same class for three years now, he’s a very close friend.”  
Changgu felt his cheeks burn slightly and hoped the sun helped him by making it looked like he wasn’t blushing. However, he didn’t have to worry since both of them greeted him nicely and he felt at his ease almost immediately.

“So you’re the one he always talks about, nice to meet you, Changgu, I’m Yuto.”  
Yanan was right, Yuto was a nice boy. Wooseok too, smiled politely and introduced himself.

“So… what about going somewhere and eating something? I’m starving.”

“Yeah, I was just thinking about that, there’s a café along the way, we could stop there.”

Changgu didn’t want to be the buzzkill but he really didn’t have the energy to stop there, even though he was hungry, he preferred going home as soon as possible.  
He declined the offer. “I’m sorry, but honestly I’m a bit tired so I’d just go home if you don’t mind?”  
Yanan looked apologetic, but soon nodded when he saw Changgu’s dark circles and tired eyes.

“Alright, but please don’t study too much and get some sleep, okay?”

“Yes, _mum_.”

He said hi to the boys and slowly began to make his way down the hill. Everything was silent, again, it felt like a _déjàvu_ – like that morning – he looked up and a sudden gust of wind made the leaves of that enormous oak tree move, startling Changgu.

Despite the mysterious and disturbing aura that the garden emanated, Changgu found himself drawn by that small, hidden place that probably few knew about. “ _Why haven’t I seen it before?_ ” Changgu blamed the way the garden was hidden from everything.  
That smell, that smell was _so good_ , like a drug, like the sweetest chocolate, or the most exquisite delicacy someone could find.

“Why is it so… _quiet_ , it happened this m- Ouch”  
As he entered through the small front gate of the garden, he tripped on a stone that was under the high grass that probably covered every other stone in that little Eden, and God knows how many other things were hidden in that small secret place. He fell on the grass, his platinum blond hair were messy and covered his annoyed expression.

“Great, how the hell didn’t i- God, that _hurts_.”  
He tried to get back up on his feet but felt a sting on his knees. As he slipped he scraped his now bleeding knee, but he didn’t even care about it, he was mad because it was his first day and he had already ruined his uniform.

“Do you need a hand?”  
Changgu flinched at that voice. He stared back at the eyes that were now staring at him intensely.

“Oh- what- you scared me.”  
In front of him stood a boy, probably around his age, with onyx feline eyes, and a plastered smile – or was it a grin? – on his face.

“Here, let me help you. It looks like you hurt yourself.” The stranger glanced at the knee, which was now fully bleeding because of some thorns.

Changgu didn’t even have chance to reply since the boy took one of his hand and helped him up.

“There are some benches down there, you should sit down.”

“Oh- but I’m okay, don’t worry.”  
He hesitated. A little voice in his mind told him that he had to be careful around that boy, he wasn’t scary, but something about him was ambiguous, almost _disturbing_.

Seeing Changgu’s concerned eyes that were screaming _I don’t want to_ , the boy let out a short chuckle and reassured him.

“Don’t worry, I swear I won’t kill you or rob you, I promise. I’m just doing what anyone else would do in this case.”

After persuading him, Changgu tried to convince himself that it was the best thing to do, especially since he couldn’t even think about running away with a wounded leg.  
He nodded and only then he noticed the hand that was firmly holding his arm and quickly glanced at the boy.

“Shall we go?”

A bright, stunning smile.

●

As he thought about it, Changgu didn’t understand how that boy would have helped him. They were in the middle of a garden than probably few persons knew, didn’t have any medicine, and the sky was slowly darkening, so how could he have helped him?

They sat on one of the benches that were next to two swings.

“ _So it’s not that small._ ” Being in a rush, Changgu didn’t spend much time that morning to explore what he though was a small garden. Actually, it was much bigger – beyond the oak tree at the entrance, past the high grass, there were several cherry blossom trees, creating some sort of cotton-candy clouds.  
It was narrow and long, and if it wasn’t for the flowers in bloom, Changgu would have sworn that that place was abandoned. After passing the cherry blossom tree they finally reached the benches.

“ _How does he know these things, this is literally a deserted place._ ”

“I should have an ointment, or something like that- wait,” The boy began going through his stuff in his backpack; he must have been a student in the same school as Changgu, since he wore the same uniform.

“You never know what could happen, right?”

Another one of those grins.  
Changgu felt a shiver run down his spine.

“Also, you’re so lucky I found you in an empty place like this.”  
He took out a small pouch and some tissues. After wetting one of them with what Changgu supposed to be disinfectant, he kneeled down and moved closer to his knee.

“This is going to sting a bit”,  
But he didn’t even let the platinum boy speak, and he placed it on his knee, the already dark blood quickly turning bright red, or maybe it was Changgu’s skin turning red, since the boy wasn’t being so gentle.

“Ah, wait- it hurts!”

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”  
Changgu just nodded and muttered a small _it’s okay_. It was awkwardly silent, and only then he realized he was sitting on a bench with a stranger – _what’s his name, by the way?_ \- who was medicating his wound.

“There, now I’m gonna apply some ointment on it and- oh, you’re very lucky, I even brought some band-aids with me!”  
Changgu took the opportunity to analyze the boy. He was sure the boy was younger than him. Also, he was certainly beautiful: light eyes, small mouth, brown hair and a petit frame. He _couldn’t_ look scary.

“By the way, I’m Yejun, I didn’t even introduce myself, sorry.” He said with a small smile, cheeks turning slightly pink from being embarrassed.

“It’s okay, it’s my fault for not asking. I’m Changgu. So…we’re attending the same school, but I swear I’ve never seen you around.”

“Yes, but,” A chuckle. “actually, this is my first day in this school, I’m a freshman.”

“ _So he’s younger than me._ ” Changgu thought.

“Are you a freshman too?”

“No, I’m in my third year.”

“Oh, sorry, Changgu- _hyung_.”

They kept talking until there was no sight of the sun anymore, and only at that moment Changgu realized that Yejun had finished with his bandage. Truthfully, it didn’t even hurt that much.

“So, I should go, Yejun. Thank you for helping me. I don’t know what I’d have done if you weren’t here.”  
He finally cracked a smile and Yejun’s eyes lit up, obviously satisfied after being praised.

“You’re welcome, hyung. Please, be careful on your way home, it’s probably going to start raining soon.”

With that, Yejun turned back, waved his hand and with a toothy smile made his way back to the entrance.

“Rain? I’m sure it won’t rain today.”

Changgu began walking to get the bus.

●

Changgu jumped up, suddenly awaked by someone who was shaking his shoulder.

“Hey, young boy. This is the last stop, you might want to get off quickly, it’s pouring outside.”  
The bus driver woke him up and Changgu immediately got out of the bus, running with his backpack on his head even though he was already soaked with water from head to toe.

“Shit, why the hell didn’t I check the weather forecast today-”

He got home quickly, his mom was worried after seeing him dripping with water. “Oh, dear, go take a shower or else you’ll get sick! I already made you dinner.”

He muttered a _yes, I’m going, don’t worry,_ and made his way to the bathroom.  
As he turned on the water, he breathed a sigh of relief, as if the hot water were washing all the tiredness of the day.  
After about ten minutes, he got out of the shower and looked into the mirror in front of him. His eyes looked tired, with eye bags and dark circles under them, and his skin was pale and dull.  
“I should hurry up and eat, I still have to study for tomorrow’s class.”

However, his eyes caught a glimpse of his knee and, surprisingly, the wound was almost healed.  
“How is it possible? Yejun’s ointment must be really good.”  
He didn’t pay much attention to it and went back to his room.

●

Later, that night, he dreamt of crimson red roses, loud laughs and deep, dark eyes.

●

“Changgu? Are you okay? You didn’t look good today.”  
Yanan said after looking at him with worried eyes.  
Indeed, he wasn’t feeling good at all. He woke up the next morning with a stuffed nose and a throbbing head. He finished his homework after midnight and, only then he could finally collapse on his so greatly desired bed. Thankfully, he took some medicine that morning so he was feeling a bit better, but still looked like hell.  
Now, after almost eight hours, school was over and they were headed towards some retro-chic café close to it.  
It was welcoming and cozy, the walls full of some old-fashioned vintage printing, with a fragrance of coffee mixed with cinnamon that filled the small space. It wasn’t crowded, only few people, mostly students, sat on the tables that were all over the café.

Changgu and Yanan sat on the furthest one, and as soon as they took place, a familiar voice surprised them.

“Yanan! Changgu!”

Not far from them stood Yuto, waving happily at the sight of them, and quickly approached them, followed by Wooseok.  
They were conversing about school when Yuto abruptly stopped talking and called someone that was on the other side of the café.

“Kino! What are you doing here? You said you were going home before!”

Everyone turned to look at the so-called Kino.  
At the right moment, Changgu wouldn’t have called it _déjàvu_ , instead, it was more like a feeling he couldn’t grasp, couldn’t catch in his hands, like grains of sand that escaped, no matter how much he tried to force his memory, but it was there, in his memory– it was like a _jamais vu_.  
Changgu was anxious, uneasy.  
_I have never seen this person, why is he affecting me so much?_

A loud laugh could be heard, and Kino greeted Yuto and the other boys.  
Then, sparkling eyes met Changgu’s, and the first thing that hit him was that the boy was staring straight into his eyes.  
A boy slightly shorter than him stood in front of Changgu, bright magenta hair against pale clear skin, and those shiny onyx eyes that looked like they wanted to-

“Hi, I’m Kino! Nice to meet you.”  
Changgu mechanically replied. “Uhm, my name is Changgu, nice to meet you too.”  
Another thing he noticed was that Kino’s smile was beautiful. It was contradictory, Changgu thought, feeling such weird sensations about someone who could laugh and smile like the sweetest person of the world.  
He convinced himself he must have made a mistake.

He found out that all of them were in the same class, and Changgu was seriously confused because they looked older, or at least of his age.

“I really like this place! I transferred here for school and honestly, I was worried I wouldn’t have made any friends but instead,” and pointed to Yuto and Wooseok, “we met yesterday and I already feel like we’re gonna get along well.”

Kino’s energy could fill an entire room, he was funny and witty, basically the kind of friend everyone would like to have.

●

It was after 7pm and the boys decided to go back to their houses since it was getting late.

“Changgu-yah, please, don’t make me repeat myself, go home and take some medicine. Also, please, eat and sleep.”

Changgu laughed at Yanan’s words, he really sounded like his mother.

“Yes, don’t worry, mum. By the way, I’m feeling so much better now, don’t worry.” He smiled softly and Yanan’s eyes looked more relieved.

“Are you not feeling well? Oh, I noticed it before too- don’t worry, Yanan! I’ll keep him company until the bus arrives.”

He turned to face Changgu and tilted his head as if to ask for his approval, to which Changgu agreed with an interrogative nod.  
His heart started to pound, why would someone want to walk with him, apart from Yanan and Hui? He was starting to feel agitated, his shyness whispering in his head that _he couldn’t do it_ , he couldn’t make friends because he was weird and timid. And something else too, on the other hand, was screaming at him to stay away from that kid, to just go home alone because otherwise something-

“Shall we go?”

Another bright, stunning smile.

●

“I’m sorry if I was too impulsive before, but I saw your friend’s face and I wanted to help somehow.”  
They were walking down the street, the city was illuminated by countless lights, the mild air and the moist earth that smelled like rain, only light footsteps were heard, along with car noises and _life_.

“It’s fine, that was nice of you, actually… Yanan can be very stubborn, even if we’re the same age, he acts like my mum.” He chuckled at random memories that passed through his mind and failed to notice a weird, familiar look that came back on Kino’s face.

“Oh? Really?”  
Gaze fixed on Changgu, almost expressionless if it weren’t for his lips automatically up in a forced smile.

“Well, yeah. We’ve been friends for almost three years now…” He knew his ears were turning red now, it was unusual for him to speak with someone else, let alone someone he met hours before.  
“He stayed with me even though I’m not very…good with people.”  
He brought his hand unconsciously behind his neck out of embarrassment and felt his blood rushing to his cheeks, painting them of a light pink. His ears were red, too. What an unusual trait.

Kino let out a gasp.

“Is everything okay?”  
Worried, Changgu moved closer to him to see if there was something wrong. _Maybe I said something weird? Am I acting weird? I bet I freaked him ou-_  
Kino’s eyes widened, as if he’d just caught a crime scene.

“Y-your nose…”  
Without thinking, Changgu lifted his hand up to his nose and felt something humid. He looked and saw red.

“God, again.”  
Kino quickly stepped back, but as soon as he saw the hurt look on Changgu’s face (“ _Is he… grossed out?_ ”) he immediately regretted it.

“No! It’s just that actually, I get…nauseous at the sight of blood.” He looked uncertain but Changgu was relieved to know _it wasn’t his fault_.

“Wait, I think I have some tissues with me, I always bring them, just in case.”

That feeling.

Again.

He opened his backpack and pulled out a pouch from which he pulled out some tissues, slowly moving closer to the blond boy who had his hand on his nose to avoid getting his uniform dirty. Blood was dripping down his nose and he lifted his head unconsciously. Quickly, Kino took his face with one hand and started to clean up it, with a troubled glance looking at Changgu.

“I’m sorry, you must be disgusted right now…I’ll do it alone, I don’t want you to-”

“No. I’m almost done here, look”  
Kino tried to change the subject and asked him why it happened so randomly.

“I’ve always been kind of…delicate. I get sick easily and even temperature changes make me feel weak or tired. It’s a pain, honestly. But I’m used to it.” He laughed it off and thanked him.

“Oh, how unfortunate, that must bother you. Here, I think it stopped bleeding.”

Kino lightly stroked his cheek and Changgu thought that, for the first time that evening, Kino gave him an authentic, sincere smile.  
They were waiting for Changgu’s bus and immediately he asked Kino about his home.  
“I live nearby, so it’s not a problem, I can wait.” Changgu felt a flutter of happiness, those words meant _I want to make sure you get home safely_. Like _friends_ would do.  
As if he read his thoughts, Kino got closer to him and Changgu wasn’t sure if he heard a snicker.  
The bus arrived after that, they said goodbyes and agreed on meeting the day after.

“Goodnight, hyung! I’ll text you! Be careful on your way home!”  
Changgu waved at him and shouted a yes, _I’ll do it_.  
On the bus, a thought crossed his mind; Kino was actually younger than him but sometimes he felt that he acted in a much more mature way than himself and the others.  
Weird.

He slowly began drifting off on his seat, and in some sort of a dream state, his mind flashed back to when his nose was bleeding and Kino was helping him.

He swore he’d already seen that pouch before.

●

Days passed, spring came in like a cold shower to wash off the grayness and the darkness, you could just _feel_ it was there, by the flowers, the trees that danced moved by the wind, birds that sang as if there was a ceremony.  
Changgu was happy.  
He and Kino got closer and he was almost convinced he found a real friend. Kino was funny, laughed at his jokes and just radiated light and joy. After periods of insecurity, sadness, Changgu found his remedy, his medicine.  
They didn’t go out that much, but just being able to meet during breaks at school was more than enough.  
Apparently, Kino didn’t eat much. That was fine for Changgu, he himself wasn’t an avid eater.

“Channgu-ya, I’m happy. You know, that you’re hanging out with Kino, he seems nice and you two get along so well.”

The blond boy blushed and raised his head like a proud dog after being praised by his owner.

Yuto and Wooseok came and all of them started chatting. Changgu noticed that Kino wasn’t there and asked them where he was.

“I think he’s in the backyard? He told us he’d be there soon. If you go there you’ll find him.”

“I see, okay, I’ll go find him.” _I really want to show him the new manga I bought_.  
Changgu stood up from his chair and ran outside, holding his manga to his chest with a big smile on his face.  
He walked around the building and went straight to the backyard and as soon as he saw a magenta head he almost shouted his name, but he stopped right away.  
Kino was of the phone with someone.  
He didn’t really mean to eavesdrop, everything happened so fast.

“Yeah, I understood. Just…can you drop it? I’m not fucking stupid. Stop being so annoying, I hate it when you treat me like a kid. I’m an _adult_ , you know. I _can’t_ help it, those fucking pills don’t work and I can’t do anything besides taking them. It’s not like I can go out and-”

At that moment, he lowered his voice and whispered something that Changgu couldn’t catch.

He was sure that he must have mistook that boy for Kino, it was impossible that that person was actually the Kino he knew (or that he _thought_ he knew).  
He was visibly irritated, even furious, and his language took him by surprise.  
Kino was so sweet and gentle.

“…kay, let’s meet up after school’s over. No- don’t bring him, you know I hate annoying _whiny_ people, ugh. Wait-”  
Kino turned around as if he felt someone’s eyes on his back. After checking that nobody was there, he continued on the phone.  
“Yes, fine. See you later.”

After that, Changgu froze.

He didn’t have the courage to come out of hiding, and Kino got back in the cafeteria.

●

“Kino! Where were you? Why isn’t Changgu with you?”  
With a quizzical expression on his face, Kino turned around.

“Why would he be with me?”

“He went out to find you, I thought you two were together”

His eyes widened but quickly tried to mask it. _What if-_  
But he didn’t even had the time to finish because Changgu appeared and, without looking at him in his eyes, greeted him.

“Oh, you’re here? I couldn’t find you.”  
Shifty eyes, avoiding eye contact, fidgeting.

“ _This little kid is fucking lying._ ” Kino thought.

He faked a smile and told him to sit with them.  
It was weird, as if both of them were in their own world and the others couldn’t see that the air was so stiff it could be cut with a knife.

“Guys, have you heard the news? It seems like there is some weird disease nowadays.”  
That comment draw the attention to the other three boys who looked curious about what Wooseok just said.  
“Apparently, people started to find dead animals in the woods? Someone said there was a nasty smell coming from there, they went there and they found…dozens of animals dead. That’s disgusting and creepy. But the weirdest thing is that there was no sign of blood anywhere.”

“What the hell? I gotta be careful with my cat, you never know.”

“Ahahah, Yuto, come on! I don’t think you need to worry about it.” Kino said while laughing at his comment, but Changgu didn’t even flinch.

“Anyway, let’s talk about more interesting things, are you guys doing something after school?”

Changgu didn’t do it very often, but deeply inside he knew he had to listen to the little voice in his head, to his gut feeling, there was something a little off with him.

“-ggu? Are you listening?”

He was caught off guard by Kino’s hand on his forearm and instinctively pulled it back.

“What? Uhm, actually, I have something to do…so, I’m sorry.”

“Really? No, _please_ , hyung” With a sad face and a persuasive expression, the hand came back on his forearm and hold it tight, looking at him straight in his eyes.

“ _Stay_.”

●

When he waved them goodbye and went to take the bus, Changgu was surprised how he literally forgot he was wary of Kino hours before.  
Also, his arm hurt.

●

That night he didn’t sleep a wink.

●

Changgu loved to read. He immersed himself in tons of pages, black signs on white that his curious mind absorbed voraciously to satiate his hunger for knowledge. Books of any kind, whatever could interest him, occupied hours and hours of his days.  
His house was quite big, two floors. The second one had a large library full of books. And whatever his mood was – angry, anxious, happy, bored – he always isolated himself in that little refuge.

It was Saturday morning and there was no school that day, so he went into the room and started to rummage to find something that could satisfy his curiosity.  
Until he found that.

“Vampires?”

He picked up a book covered in dust from the bookcase, it was large and had a black cover.  
He began flipping through the pages and only when he found himself on the big sofa in the room he realized he was already halfway through the massive book.  
“This is unexpectedly interesting.” Myths, legends, beliefs, everything that involved those sinister undead blood-drinking demons.  
After having read the most common characteristics of the so-called vampires, such as pale skin, irresistible beauty, incredible strength etcetera, Changgu stopped at some point.

“ _A vampire's emotional expressions are less expressive than humans._ ”

He couldn’t explain the reason, but after reading these words suddenly the image of Kino popped in his head. Many people never noticed it, but Changgu was an extremely perspicacious person – he remembered those subtle moments when Kino would look empty, like a doll.

“What the hell am I thinking- This is so dumb, as if _he_ could be a vampire.”

He tidied up the room and turned off the light before closing the door.  
But he didn’t leave the book.

●

“Can we speak for a moment?”

Changgu looked up and saw Kino, his eyes fixed on him.

“Sure.”

It was lunch break and they were alone, the others were inside the cafeteria. Changgu preferred staying outside.  
They sat on a bench and Kino quickly turned to Changgu, taking his hands in his own.

“Hyung, maybe I’m just imagining things, but yesterday you seemed a bit off? I mean, maybe I did something that made you upset… I just wanted to tell you, that if I did, I’m sorry. I don’t want you to be mad at me, it may sound weird but I like you and I want to be your friend.”

Changgu remained silent for a bit, then he raised his head and smiled at him.

“Kino, how could you think about something like that? You didn’t do anything, yesterday I was just a bit tired, you know, those days…but don’t worry, I’m not mad at you.”

He moved his hand closer to the flowers that adorned the backyard of the school as he said those words, and slowly got up to look at them closely.

“I’m not very good with people, I already told you that. But I’m happy that you care about me,”

He caressed one rose.

“because I think you’re an interesting person.”

Kino followed him with his gaze, and then Changgu was in front of him. He hold out his hand. “Come on, let’s go inside.”

Kino froze.  
His eyes followed the hand.  
It was bleeding.

“Oh, I must have scratched myself with a thorn.” He looked closely at his bleeding finger and then, sticking out his tongue, he licked off the blood while looking at Kino.

“Don’t tell Yanan I did this, he’ll think I might catch some weird disease.”

With a small grin, he turned around and walked toward the school entrance.

On the other hand, Kino looked almost as if he were paralyzed, he took a big gulp and then breathed deeply before following him.

“Changgu-ya, you’re really giving me a hard time.”

●

What Changgu failed to read on that dusty book was that " _vampires can also dominate the mind and the will of a human by simple eye contact, soft speech or a simple wave of the hand"_.


End file.
